Summary
Kinda like Oceans Eleven Dirty Dozen Gears of War err... an RPG in space.
Gameplay 93/100
I was going to write about how people need to stop complaining about inventory screens. Changed my mind half way when I re-read what I had and realized how much venom was posted in that. I also realized these people are obviously deficient in some mental faculty and therefore I should "be nice". I'll just leave it at "If you can't read properly, don't make life worse for those who can" and call it a day.
That being said, I like what BioWare did to the inventory system :D ....almost. Part of the problem with ME1's inventory was people who needed more realism in their video games. You know, the ones that complain about monsters dropping loose change. So RPG developers have been coming up with all sorts of gimmicks to explain how you are getting your money. Body parts, gear, items you can later craft into more expensive doodads. The list goes on and on.
And it's working... Almost. ME1's system was born of this mindset. Get weapons, ammo and armor drops from mobs and sell them back for credits. Problems arose from the sheer number of drops you got. Often times this clogged up your inventory, not allowing you to pick up anything new. And Jumping Jesus on a Jackhammer was it a bitch and a half to clear out your inventory when this happened. Especially ammo... (Do I need this? Should I gel it? What the hell was I just looking at 3 items ago?) So instead of trying to fix the mess effect (OK feel dirty now -_-) of the old inventory system, they just 86 the whole thing and start from scratch.
Sounds good... And I'm sure some focus group was involved with the new system. (Question one, how do you feel about inventory systems in video games: "Durp Hurt brain make words do Durp"{Smash head into clipboard till it's pried out of their hands by Volunteers At EA headquarters.}) So ya, we get a handful of weapons now and we get to upgrade them. Which is perfectly fine.... BUT CAN I PLEASE SEE WHAT THE HELL I JUST UPGRADED BIOWARE? PLEASE? WITH A GODDAMN CHERRY ON TOP? Would the durpapods seriously complained if each weapon had a status screen?
Yes I know they have an upgrade tab on your private terminal but it's an unsortable mess after you get 15-20 upgrades. Besides, doesn't actually show the stats of the weapons now doe's it?
Oddly enough though, I really have very little problem with the other changes made by BioWare. The streamlining of the XP system, the removal of the "HillClimber: Get up that Goddamn hill" Mini game (Yes the Mako) or the way they present the story like chapters in a book.(nice mix of linear and free form story telling there) It's obvious they realized they had a much better action game than RPG there. (Stat based aiming in realtime = fail) and adding RPG elements to an action game works just fine. Hell you can add RPG elements to anything and it will work.
The gameplay itself is constantly compared to Gears of War. (Cover based shooter) And fans tend to take serious offense at this. Which is silly if you think about it. Not like GoW was a bad game. And it's not like every game is new and original. We wouldn't have Silent Hill, Saint's Row or Half Life if the industry had an aversion to improving on previous ideas. It's probably the decades long polarization of RPG and Shooter fans. And since the industry is constantly mixing the two genres. We, as fans, should probably knock that Super Silly Shat off.
So yes, I (mostly) love the changes to the gameplay from ME1. Love the cover based gameplay ripped from GoW. :p And love the absence of having to slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly climb hills in the mako. They did replace the latter with a probing minigame...... OK so it's not all good. I guess probing was added to make even "1xp per mob, 10k xp to next level" grinders bored out of there skulls. Is this a preamble for excuses for further removal of RPGness from ME3? (Remember probing ya biatches? This is why we took this other thing out.) Or a halfhearted attempt to please ME1 fans? Only time will tell.
Story 81/90
BioWare's writer's curb stomp the hell out of the rest of the industry. Hell, they curb stomp most writing in any industry period. Beautiful mix of humor, genuine plot surprises and expert timing. Bioware is king. As much as I love there writing however, there is something to be said about rushing a product to release.
Not to rehash my rant about this in my Bioshock review but it has to be said again. Rushed writing sucks. Ok the main story isn't rushed. Hell most of the major plot is well fleshed out and characters seem very alive and vibrant.... It's just....
Ok who here remembers Aria? You know, the asari in omega station with the HUGE (seemed pretty hefty) intro and the whole "Don't @#$% with Aria" thing? What the hell happens to her. She's about as important to the plot as the miniature giant space hamster after you leave Omega. All that set up for nothing... And speaking of Omega. That was, according to most pres releases, supposed to be a citadel for the Terminus Systems. It felt more like the gas station rest stop for the part of space that didn't feel much different then the part of space you explored in ME1.
I guess it's a good sign though when your complaints amount to "Why didn't you write more of your wonderful story!" and not "What the hell where you thinking when you did that thing you did?". The story itself starts off a little herkyjerky when you actually get control of your ship, the Normandy. Which is forgivable, since open-ended, non linear storytelling is a fairly new concept. It's why people babble on about video games being a new platform for presenting stories. And maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I remember asking myself. "Why am I on Omega again?", "Why the hell are Miranda and Jacob following me around like 2 lost puppies?", "Who the hell is archangel?"
A quick trip to the codex screen helped me put 2 and 2 together on that. "Ok, on Omega to find new team members to stop the Collectors. Archangel is one of these potential recruits. Miranda and Jacob are.... the Ash and Kaidan of ME2. Got it." but relying on outside material is a crappy technique. It's fine for clarifying things. Or even giving back-story. But not to explain what the hell needs to be done next.
To be fair though, I think it was more to do with the sudden change in storytelling venues. It went from a very linear presentation to an open-ended one very suddenly. Slightly reminiscent of leaving Midgard for the first time in FF7. (though it's still very linear even after you leave, you are given an illusion of open endedness by way of classic RPG overworld exploration.) Very jarring to be lead along on a path then suddenly told "OK GO! YOU ARE FREE!!!!" You adapt quickly of course, but the sudden change can and will bewilder you for a moment.
Speaking of choice. The moral compass (Paragon vs Renegade) system is very entertaining. They really should just call it the Momma's boy vs Smart Ass system though. Since that is what it amount's to. But it seems like Bioware can't win here. Make the choices too extreme and people complain. Limit choices to something more realistic (kinda what we have here) and THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE COMPLAIN.
Well, mostly those schizophrenic complaints come from critics trying to pander to two separate sides of the same coin at the exact same time. Want to seem cool by agreeing we need more choices but not editorially brave enough to take a stance on either side.
For the record I want story first, choice second. Mass Effect 1 and 2 deliver this beautifully. So Unless a game is design from the ground up to have a pure good path (Save the world) and a pure evil path (destroy the world. Not save it "differently"), and not just a main story you can childishly flail your fists against with the illusion of choice, I'll stick with Slightly "morally gray" choices vs "doing the right thing" choices.
But it has to be mentioned how seamless importing a Shepard from ME1 is. Choices you made then, affect the gameplay now and if it is all a ruse, and NPC X would still be here at Y if I didn't spare them on Z then hat's off to BioWare for fooling me. XD
And finally, a word on The Collectors. I had no idea how BioWare was going to top Sovereign the Geth or the Reapers from ME1. Luckily The Collectors where more then up to the task. Creepy, well designed, biomechanoid insect people come across like Gigers Alien with particle beams. (Trust me, there not as dumb as that sounds.) Sure there Controlled by the Reapers (assuming direct control of course.... ok that was bad...) and by extension are part of the Reaper threat. But it was a wonderfully surprising way to bring something new (and surprising... did I mention that?) to the table for the series (Though admittedly, they are a bit Tyranid. Ah Warhammer 40k this time Bioware? Last time it was The Mechanoids {Geth} wonder which (table top|miniture) game they'll (plunder|pay homage) next time.)
Graphics 70/80
Character and stage design are wonderful. If you are a fan of Farscape you will absolutely love this games design. There is a whole lot to look at here. And stages don't feel recycled. (major problem in the first game.) Even Side quests feel like you are going somewhere different from the last 50 places you have been. And there is creative use of old environmental objects from ME1. (The Colonist prefab units from me1 as an example. You know the deep space mobile homes.)
I do have a few issues with NPC's. Especially how they seem to be scripted to do something during a conversation, then return to their original position. Picture talking to someone who is sitting at a desk and after every question you ask them, they stand up, walk in a circle, then sit back down. EVERY.... GODDAMN... QUESTION. That would get very strange very quickly. Even stranger when you interrupt them mid sentence and they teleport to a seated position behind their desk. This makes them come across more like marionette puppets than actual people. But it's not so jarring that it subtracts from the whole experience.
Eyeballs though..... Ok not to sound like I'm bitching for the sake of bitching, but most human characters in this game have very strange eyes. There is supposed to be a glossiness to eyeballs. They're not supposed to look like ping-pong balls with iris' drawn on. There definitely not supposed to be pure white either. Also, they shouldn't randomly cross mid conversation.
But nothing beats Male Shepard's ability to look like a serial killer when he smiles. My shep was designed back in ME1 to look like he was constantly pissed off. Like he was going to strangle the living shit out of you if you didn't start giving him answers now. I liked it enough that I carried it over to ME2. And it works fine, especially for renegade. Not so much for romancing crew members though. He always looks like he is trying to fake a smile..... Very creepy.
Ok the previous was just me crying foul at my own character design. But would it kill BioWare to have a non Paragon romance approach. Hell why not just throw some non "Happy Time Smile Happy KILL" scenes in there that work into the main story. Stop treating the romances of your games like tacked on tripe BioWare.
Sound 64/70
Music is an improvement over ME1's. Mainly because there is more of it in this game. Sadly however, there isn't much that is very memorable like in ME1 (I still hear the Citadel theme in my head from time to time.) It has to be said that an underlying theme song that changes at Key points in the game makes for a more immersive experience. It worked well in FFX and Brave Fencer Musashi (The first one, not the horrid sequel..... FU Squeenix.) no reason it shouldn't work here.
And the Va's in this game. The best talent the video game industry has to offer. Which has become a constant for (And I can't believe I am saying this) EA games. Not just the ones coming from BioWare. And it's things like this that have me worried for the future. Worried that the next generation won't have horrid VA's in video games to entertain them. Think I'm crazy? I dare you to listen to this and not laugh your ass off. Admittedly it's mostly bad writing and VA's not taking their lines seriously because of it. But there are some real Gems that are bad writing AND bad VA's
Replay 50/60
This game actually has a lot of replayability to it. Playing different classes, Harder difficulties, Going through the game on a different moral compass. This game does have things to offer the replayer before DLC
And if what has been said about the Cerberus Network is accurate, this game will have allot left to do while we wait on ME3. As of right now we are still waiting on the Hammerhead hover tank. This can play out in one of two ways.
- The Hammerhead is the true successor to the Mako and we can explore even more worlds than before. Because it's a hovertank, we don't have to play "Hillclimber part 2: Still getting up the damn hill". This may even supercede probing as a means to acquire resources.
- The Hammerhead makes us wish for the Mako again. It's a hovertank but it can't seem to navigate 1 foot tall bumps in the environment. The number of worlds we can explore is limited to like 4 or 5. All are in a new never before seen system and they all look-alike. You need to use probing to find Hammerhead fuel.
Lets hope it's the former and not the latter. Though honestly, with EA's track record, and the Cerberus network smelling like EA shenanigans to begin with, I would not be surprised if it where the latter.
Little Bits that wowed or bugged me
- Tali and Garrus are back: YAAAAAAAY (+1)
- Wrex isn't playable: BOOOOOO (-1)
- Removed the "Hill climber: get up the goddamn Hill" sidequests(+1)
- Replaced the former with probing..... (-1)
- Thought they where replacing the Geth with those damn whinny pussmotrons in the beginning of the game. (-9000)
- They didn't (+9000)
- Multiple Miniature Giant Space Hamster reference's. (+2)
Mass Effect 2 comes out: +2
Overall 8.9 out of 10
Surprisingly competent Sequel, when the general rule of Corporate Goonery is Sequels = cash in on the name while it's still hot. This game alleviated some of my fears of EA's hold over BioWare. But there is still some stray hairs of doubt.
Overall though, BioWare does a superb job on this. Showing the industry once again how to do an RPG.
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